Several attempts have been made to produce rubber-modified asphalt cements having the highly desirable properties of stability and prolonged high-level resistance to water-, fuel-, and ultraviolet (UV) light-associated degradation.
Specifically, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,818, U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,561 (Flanigan I) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,168 (Flanigan II) describe processes for liquefying rubber granules in a TRMACS process, by heating crumb rubber and asphalt to temperatures of approximately 500° F. using spray jets or spray bombardment.
Although several achievements have been made in producing asphalt cements having desirable properties, a need still remain for improved rubber-modified asphalt cement that possess superior stability and shielding properties, and for systems, apparatuses, and methods for high throughput production of such rubber-modified asphalt cements.
The present invention provides such an improved asphalt cement, as well as systems and methods for preparing and using such a rubber-modified asphalt cement.